The Best Friend Anyone Could Have
by NaXyld
Summary: Because Ruby was Penny's friend. She was the best friend anyone could have. And friends stuck together no matter what.


Author's note: A short oneshot dedicated to the friendship between Ruby and Penny.

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"_I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura. I'm not real." _

"_Of course you are. You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?"_

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Penny was never happier than the moment when Ruby Rose accepted her for who she was. She had been so glad, so happy, that Ruby did not care that she was artificial, that she was created, not born. With the only exception being her father, who had created her from a womb of machine instead of a womb of a mother, there had been no one else willing to see her as anything but a machine; a weapon created to do their fighting. Yet Ruby, her friend, was still willing to see her as a fellow person.

After all, friends accepted each other for who they were.

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It was Ruby who introduced Penny to everyone else; Ruby who managed to get them to accept her for who she was. Thanks to Ruby, there were so many new people that Penny could call a "friend". There was her sister, Yang, who was always full of energy and excitement and had taken to Penny almost immediately. There was Weiss, Ruby's partner as a huntress who was a good person beneath a rough exterior. There was Blake, who was quiet and not as outgoing as the others but who seemed to understand the feeling of being treated less than humanly.

It wasn't just her team either. Jaune. Pyrrha. Nora. Ren. Sun. Neptune. Velvet. So many people that Penny could call a friend, so many people who trusted Penny and that Penny could trust.

After all, friends helped each others world grow.

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It was because she met Ruby that Penny was able to make her own choices. Before, Penny would only fight when she was told to. She would only fight when her creators directed her to. She would fight for their curiosity; she would fight to prove their genius in creating her in the first place. Her successes were their successes; her faults their faults. Even the participation in the Vytal festival tournament was something that General Ironwood decided for her, in order to showcase her talents. Not because she wanted to go there herself.

That changed when she met Ruby. She wanted to help Ruby; she wanted to help her friend with whatever was troubling her. That day when she and Ruby battled the White Fang at the docks, she did it to protect Ruby, not because anyone told her to. The sight of Ruby being hit by Roman Torchwick's weapon infuriated her. Not just because Ruby had gotten hurt trying to protect her. Not because Roman delighted in the pain he had caused.

No, she had become angry and fought because he had hurt her friend.

After all, friends were always combat ready to protect each other.

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It had been Ruby who comforted her when her father died.

Even though he was not a father by blood, he was still the man who gave birth to Penny. Though she came from a womb of machine, he had still cared for her, even when everyone around him saw his daughter as nothing more than a weapon for their use. He had encouraged her friendship with Ruby; encouraged her to get out there and fight for what she believed was right instead of for what General Ironwood believed she should fight for.

That man was now dead, and Ruby stood by Penny, even as she tried to figure out why drops of tears were not flowing through her eyes like a real person would cry tears. Ruby told Penny that she understood how she felt; that someone who was important to her had also passed away as well.

After all, friends were there for each other.

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It was Ruby, now a highly respected huntress, who came to Penny's defence first.

Years passed, and the only thing that changed the same was Penny. Years had passed, and more and more artificial humans were also being created. They were a lot stronger, a lot faster and a lot more powerful than Penny ever was. After all, they were advanced. They were newer. They had to be better.

And that was why General Ironwood decided he didn't need Penny anymore. She was an outdated weapon. She had no use anymore.

It was Ruby who came to her defence; arguing with General Ironwood about how Penny was not his to toy with nor his to discard and dispose of. Everyone had jumped in, and from Blake's calm deconstruction of Ironwood's argument, Yang's fierce emotions and threats of castrating the Atlas General and Weiss threatening to use her power as the head of the Schnee Company to completely isolate Atlas, General Ironwood finally relented and let Penny free to live like she's always wanted – a normal girl.

This was why even as she watched the newer models do things she could never do; run at speeds Penny could never reach, Penny did not envy them. No, she felt sorry for them, because she had something that none of them did.

Friends.

After all, Friends always stood up for each other.

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Over the years, things seemed to become more and more different. Ruby grew taller bit by bit, and so did every one of her friends... everyone except for Penny. Ruby's body of flesh and bone began to change, constantly marching on its finite progress, while Penny's body of plastic, metal and electricity remained exactly the same as the day she first met Ruby on the streets of Vale all those years ago.

Whenever it got brought up, whether by accident or by a random comment, Ruby would always jokingly brush it aside. She would make a joke about how her growth was a result of diligently drinking milk everyday. Yet, deep inside Penny knew it. No matter how much they tried to convince each other otherwise, there really was a difference between a body of nuts and bolts and a body of squishy guts.

Even then, as Ruby grew taller, her hair began to grey and her skin started to wrinkle, her ever changing hands were always there to hold Penny's everlasting hands.

After all, the bonds friends had were timeless.

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It was Ruby who apologized in the end, right before she passed away.

The days Penny spent with her friends turned to weeks, and weeks turned months. Months turned to years, and years turned to decades. Yet, in the end, Penny had always been different from Ruby. Ruby had changed. She had changed so much – her once youthful, energetic body had become old and fragile; her bright, energetic silver eyes had become tired. Lying on the bed, Ruby's shrivelled hands clasp Penny's hands, the hands of someone who would be eternally young.

That was the last time Penny had seen Ruby. Over three hundred years ago.

People came and went. People around her appeared and then disappeared. Yet, Penny could never forget the one girl, from all those years ago. Even though her robotic memory; her timeless body would not allow something such as forgetfulness, those memories still stuck out, even with hundreds of years worth of memory accumulated. Even as the obsolete, forgotten puppet who had broken from her strings headed towards the faded stone that was the gravesite of Ruby Rose, she thought back fondly to the days they spent together. Even as the rest of the world forgot about the hero named Ruby Rose, Penny would not forget Ruby, her friend.

After all, Friends were together until the end.

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_Ruby's shrivelled hands clasp Penny's hands, the hands of someone who would be eternally young. Despite all of their differences, despite how dramatically different those two were, they had managed to stay friends for so long. Ruby had never once envied Penny's timeless quality; had never once envied the fact that while Ruby would grow old, lose her beauty and die Penny would always look like a teenager. She was a friend; how could she? _

_Smiling in order to comfort Penny, knowing that she was feeling just as much pain as any normal human would despite her lack of tears, Ruby let out one last farewell to her timeless friend. _

"_Take care, friend." _


End file.
